When President Cyril Ramaphosa and his delegation travels to the US next week to meet with the Trump administration, they will do so with some guidance in hand from the local automotive industry.

naamsa | The Automotive Business Council CEO Mikel Mabasa says the industry has already engaged with special envoy to the US, Mcebisi Jonas, on the challenges the local industry faces in relation to the new tariff regime announced by US President Donald Trump.

“We definitely want to continue to export vehicles to the US,” said Mabasa during the online launch of the naamsa 2025 Automotive Trade Manual.

“It’s a very attractive market.”

Mabasa said that while a number of analysts had already delivered the funeral rites on Africa’s preferential access to the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), the South African automotive industry was hopeful for a different outcome when the current agreement came to an end in September.

“We are working with our partners in government to push for that conversation.”

According to the 2025 Automotive Trade Manual, the US was South Africa’s third biggest export destination in 2024, with new-vehicle and component exports valued at almost R29-billion, up from 2023’s R27.94-billion.

New-vehicle exports were valued at R24.6-billion (up from R19.59-billion in 2023) and component exports at R4.4-billion, down sharply from 2023’s R7.8-billion.

The trade manual notes that South African automotive exports to the US increased by 500.8% between 2001 and 2024, while automotive imports from the US increased by 741.1%.

South Africa imported vehicles and components from the US to the tune of R22-billion last year, slightly down from the R23.8-billion recorded last year. Around R4-billion of this number were vehicles and the rest components.

“The benefits stemming from Agoa for South Africa are much broader than mere duty- and quota-free access into the US. It also stimulates opportunities for a chain of collaborative arrangements with manufacturing companies from sub-Saharan African countries to access the US duty free,” notes the document.

naamsa chief trade and research officer Dr Norman Lamprecht noted that automotive exports to the US had a rocky start this year on the back of the hawkish on-off tariff regime threatened by the new US President.

“This is a very fluid and volatile situation that creates a lot of uncertainty.

“We have seen a first-quarter decrease in vehicle exports [to the US]. Our [vehicle manufacturers] have already adapted, with one new model by a big exporter not going to the US since the fourth quarter of last year.”

Lamprecht believes that the South African automotive industry should push for Agoa to survive.

“[Political] parties come and go… Before the US elections it was tabled for Agoa to be extended to 2041.”

He noted that import duties had a ripple effect, as they caused higher inflation, slowed down interest rate cuts and created more competition for South African exports.